The green, open space on the corner of 5th Street and Felicity Avenue is not a sight for sore eyes yet, but has been the location for illegal dumping.
Residents and employees close by said the illegal dumping is as irregular as it is frequent and they can never predict when building rubble would form yet another pile.
But good news is just around the corner. Ward 86 councillor Philip Kruger, said the City of Johannesburg will remove the rubble within two weeks. While this is good news, Kruger feels a barrier of some sort on the edges of the property should be erected. “If we do this, we can prevent illegal dumping in the long term. We can deny trucks access to the property.”
Dumping building rubble is illegal on this piece of private property, and a warning fine of R10 000 is evidently not a big enough deterrent for dumpers. The open space has been a dumping haven for many years with the City occasionally cleaning up, costing the taxpayer around R250 000 each time. Kruger said a company owns the property and several attempts to communicate with the owners have proved futile.
Ward 99 councillor Nicole van Dyk said illegal dumping across the city requires residents to be more vigilant and reporting vehicles. “Due to the City of Johannesburg’s rapid growth, there are many construction sites in and around Joburg. I think the City would need to start looking at creating more dumping sites.”
Details: If you suspect a vehicle is dumping illegally, contact 011 490 1630 or 011 375 5911 or take a photo of the vehicle and its number plate and send it to Metro police’s head of bylaw enforcement’s director Mathakoza Kgaswane at mathakozak@joburg.org.za
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